Wondering about politics?

[cowman]

Of course he won't owe Ontario anything, but he should be able to work with McGuinty for a common goal...to change the transfer equation?
I suspect Morton would also be able to work very constructively with a Harper government...not so sure about a Liberal government though?
Morton is a CANADIAN citizen? Why do you keep insisting he is an American? I don't think anybody is saying Ed Stelmach is a Ukeranian and not a Canadian?
I think the vietnamese support came over from Oberg? They tend to vote in a block? This is nothing new? This is and always has been a part of Canadian politics?..no story here!
I will note a lot of so called Vietnamese, are in reality ethnic Chinese, and have always been excellent at business? Sorry that is just my opinion and not trying to stereo type either Chinese or Vietnamese!

[kpb]

coppertop, again, what happened to taking the high road and not slinging mud at the other candidates? Has that gone by the board or is Ed's campaign in trouble?

It may very well be that Ed outlined his positions clearly at public forums but he sure hasn't any time I've heard him speak in public. In fact it's usually just blah, blah, blah even when asked very specific questions. I put it to you again since you didnt answer the first time-yes or no is Stelmach in favor of private for pay health clinics, will he cut our health care premiums, will he increase royalties? I've heard him asked these questions a few times now--and a few more besides--and he's yet to give an answer that anyone can decipher. He seems to want to get by on generalities and cliches alone and I don't think that will cut it this time.

kpb

[cowman]

Well hopefully Ed will spell it all out tonight on Global? Could be interesting?
I doubt much will be accomplished though?
Who in their right mind is going to go "confrontational" in this 40 minute debate?
Dinning is going to beat up Morton. Morton is going to beat up Dinning. Ed is going to keep portraying himself as the "nice" guy who is above making a choice...so vote for him!
Second ballot choice, in my view, has got to be Dinning! Hot or cold is better than lukewarm!
Come on...Dinning is the leftist candidate in this election! Morton is the rightist! Ed is the "business as usual" candidate!
You either want change...or you don't? Dinning is for change...its called moving to the politically correct left? Morton is to the right...business oriented politics? Ed is more of the same... "Ralph lite"!
I personally believe the PC party has given us an opportunity to change the face of Alberta, and actually in the big picture... Canada on this one!...this might just be the last opportunity? Don't waste your vote!

[coppertop]

Unfortunately this leadership will be settled by the major cities, not rural Alberta, and rural Alberta has the most to lose if the candidate that gets in doesn't have a clear understanding of the issues facing us.

During the debate this evening, it will be interesting to see whether there are any constructive comments made or just posturing.

As for getting along with Harper goes, he lost a lot of ground when he decided that Quebec was a nation within a nation, everywhere except Quebec, so are we in for another round of catering to one province ?? I am disappointed in his record lately, albiet I did support the party in the election. I wouldn't be too optimistic about a marriage between him and Morton, if Ontario decides they want a chunk of our oil revenue, they will rattle Harper's cage and I am betting which direction he jumps...Morton or no Morton.

As far as Ed being Ukrainian goes, he is a third generation Alberta, was born and raised and educated here.

I ask you who you would go to for advice on, and policy development on agriculture matters, a college professor born, raised and educated in another country or a third generation Alberta farmer ??? No names mentioned ?????
Stating fact is not mud slinging.

[kpb]

ok coppertop this is the third time I have asked you this question without an answer so far. Is your man Stelmach in favor of private sector medical clinics or not? It's a simple question and one I think a lot of Albertans are interested in. Do you have a straighforward answer?

kpb

[coppertop]

kpb, obviously he isn't going to shut down the ones that already exist so its a moot point. There are numerous private clinics in Alberta, and have been for ages. My mother, who passed away in 1992, had cataracts removed on both eyes at the Gimble clinic in Calgary, at a cost of approximately $750 per eye over and above what Alberta Health Care paid.

Private clinics and private health insurance aren't one and the same. Private clinics that operate under the Canada Health Act are one thing, but I am very concerned about a move to enable people to buy private health insurance, because what kind of health care will those that cannot afford to pay high premiums receive. I am hoping to hear that answer this evening from Morton.
I happened to be the secretary of our constituency association when Bill 11 was being proposed. We had arranged to have the health minister speak at a meeting, and we were sent HATE faxes, received horrible phone messages etc. from people who were sure that Bill 11 was going to mean they would not have access to appropriate health care. It was almost as bad as the treatment Thurber got when he went around the province with the grazing lease review committee !!!

Health care is the leading issue in this leadership contest according to the polls taken in Edmonton yesterday.

[blackjack]

...well tonights little debate never changed my mine...its morton still # 1...he is the only one that is going to bring about some of the changes that i would like to see...have to admit i was some what impressed with ed ...as at least he see there needs to be change...and one being alberta's own cpp...as for dinning i put him dead last ...i could not handle the crap about when he was chair of the calgary health region and how he had shorten the lines with private donations ...was it not calgary that just had the two women abort in emergency ...good job jim...still the major reason i vote for morton is i think he will do the best job in alberta-canada confrontations...

[kpb]

with all due respect, coppertop, there are private clinics that have opened in the recent past in Alberta and been shut down by the government. There are also private clinics that are opened for specific ailments in other provinces that have not been allowed in Alberta. So it is hardly a moot point but it is one that your candidate has still not addressed.

In the debate Stelmach fell back on his old saw--defender of the public system but, wait for it, going to consult with doctors, nurses and everybody else about how to be more efficient. I mean how much more consultation on health care do we need? The current system does not work--does Ed have an idea of his own on how to make it work better? I mean he wants to be the leader so hopefully he has an opinion on what would be a better way of delivering health care in this province. I've yet to hear it.

Having said all of that at least he sounded better than Dinning. I'm not sure Jim is even in the right party--I feel he would be more comfortable in the Libs.

To me, if you choose Dinning you're choosing a guy who really is more comfortable with Lib values and if you choose Stelmach you're choosing a guy who is either unwilling or unable to tell us what he really thinks on issues. Agree or disagree with Morton-and like I said I didn't vote for him in the first round-you know where he stands on the issues.

kpb

[coppertop]

kpb, I can personally take you to our local hospital ( pardon me, Health Care Centre) and show you where there has been and still is waste of tax dollars on things that do not cure one patient or add one front line worker. I know Ed intends on making the health regions accountable for the tax dollars injected into health care, which is what he alluded to. Who better to consult with than doctors and nurses to find out what elasticity there is within the system for cost savings, which could be injected into areas that aren't being properly addressed eg: emergency ward wait times.

Interestingly I received a call from a Dinning campaign worker after the debate and her comment was that Ed won it hands down. Morton fudged on private health insurance by commenting that he would allow people to buy insurance for SOME SERVICES. Now, what are they, having someone deliver your baby, having someone hook up your IV, having someone take our your ruptured appendix ? I agree, Dinning was certainly off his game tonight, obviously he is hearing that he is losing ground not gaining it.

I guess we leave it up to members of the party and hopefully sometime late on Saturday or early Sunday morning we will know who the next leader is.

[cowman]

coppertop: I was not implying Ed should be considered anything but an Albertan, just pointing out we all came from somewhere and where you or your anscestors came from has nothing to do with your committment to Alberta? Hell, some of the most ardent Albertans came from the Maritimes...just a few years ago!
I thought the debate was sort of a bust? No big knockouts and everybody was playing it pretty cautious? All three looked pretty good in my opinion. Seemed Jim Dinning was awful nervous? Ed started out looking the same but seemed more confident near the end? I thought Morton came across looking cool and collected? He looked like a premier.
I also got the feeling that these guys can work together after Saturday and that they all have respect for each other?

[cowman]

coppertop: One other thing...
The mark of a good leader is he doesn't micro manage? He picks good people and lets them run their departments?
Ted Morton isn't a farmer...but he has a lot of good people in caucus who are! His "agenda" is change...not the status quo! Changing the way government does business, how democratic reforms will work, getting a handle on expenses, making sure all Albertans get a chance?
To focus on one area at the expense of the big picture...is not the sign of a CEO?
We might not like it but agriculture is in reality only a very minor concern for most Albertans? Sorry that is just a fact...and like you said this thing will be decided in the big cities not the rural areas? As far as agriculture is concerned...I think anyone of the three candidates will do a decent job.

[coppertop]

Morton has a lot of members of caucus who are good farmers, but not one of them supports him !!!!! His caucus support is Hung Pham, and Tony Abbott!!

Tony is in tough in his own constituency because he promised his support to another candidate and went as far as to sit down with key members of that candidate's campaign team to tell them so, then decided that Morton might have a chance so jumped on his bandwagon under the guise of being concerned about the morals of the province due to same sex marriage. Tony would give his first born to be a cabinet minister, but lacks the maturity to perform in that role.

I don't know if you caught Dinning's repeated reference to the wonderful job he did as Chair of the Calgary Health Region.....at what cost to the taxpayer ????? He was being paid half a million a year at Transalta so it is doubtful if he was making much less at the CHR. Feedback from numerous people polled after the debate put Ed first by a country mile because he was honest, assertive and respectful. Dinning was a joke and Morton managed to get his tidbit in about people being able to buy some health care services, but of course, he did not elaborate because he knows full well he cannot make it fly in caucus anyway. UNTIL he manages to get all reform candidates elected across the province. I loved his comment about what a wonderful job Harper is doing in Quebec.....guess so, giving them nation within a nation status. I am all for Alberta insisting we receive the same, we are the engine that drives the economy of the country for godsake !!! In fact, I think I am going to start a petition to demand that our next premier take immediate steps to force the feds to give us the same status as Quebec. Now, if the premier is Morton, wonder if he will have the guts to make demands on his buddy Steve, when all the KINGS MEN from Ottawa are back in Alberta camapaigning for him !!!
We even got a summons to a SHORT NOTICE federal constituency meeting tonight,but the majority of directors are far too busy to attend !!!!

[cakadu]

Personally, I wasn't overly impressed by any of the candidates, but Morton did do his fair share of side-stepping the questions he was asked and there was never any real explanation as to how he planned to do things. He also made reference to the papers that he co-authored with Mr. Harper several years ago. Arguing against same sex-marriage and abortion are issues that are under federal jurisdiction and have already been decided - one of them many, many years ago.

In terms of winning polls, it might interest some of you to know that Morton won zero polls in Calgary and only one or two in Edmonton. Dinning, of course, won the most of his in Calgary and a smattering in Edmonton.

What might become absolutely critical is the 2nd choice on the ballots. I'm not convinced that either of the two "front-runners" have the 50 plus 1 percent to win it. 2nd choice may be the one that wins it.

[coppertop]

Morton won 17 polls across the province, Dinning 24. The coalitiion of Ed, Dave, Mark and Lyle won 43.

Dinning has lost a lot of his support, and I am not too sure he is going to pick up new supporters. Some of his supporters in the south have gone to Morton, in central, north, north east and the Peace its a different story.

Folks are uneasy about Morton's talk on private health insurance, because he has given no specifics. Allowing doctors to practice in one or the other is a no-brainer, of course they will choose the high end fees in a private system. The peace region support for Ed has tripled since the debate just because of the comments about buying health services.

Edmonton and the capital region has a huge voter base, and all key municipalities are out in force supporting Ed, where the Calgary area is split, some for Morton, some for Dinning and Ed is picking up support there by the hour.

It is a roll of the dice and I would not put money on the outcome....but I know how organized the Stelmach team are, with the additions of the Oberg, Norris and Hancock team. The MLA's that are supporting Ed are not sitting on their butts waiting to be appointed to cabinet, they are working the phones, knocking on doors and will be driving people to the polls tomorrow.

At this point in time I have five places to be tomorrow PLUS feeding critters and getting some snow plowed....and nobody is paying me one red cent. Everyone who has an opinion on the outcome or their candidate should get out and help...its always easy to sit on ones backside and have all sorts of excuses for not donating your time.

All camps have volunteers who work very hard, some have mostly paid positions that show up in T-Shirts, while others drive miles, buy meals, pay for halls, coffee stops etc. out of their own pocket because they believe in the person they support.


When its all said and done, there should NOT be any losers, and Albertans should be the winners...we can only hope it turns out that way regardless of who gets the nod.

[WildwoodsDoc]

The correct spelling is Ukrainian.